Christmas Gifts - 2010

I know, I know. I'm a bit behind with this post. But as the saying goes, better late than never. During the day I'm either feeding Nate, cleaning house, there is a  Doc appointment to attend or something else comes up that takes me away from the computer. So when nighttime arrives and I do have a few minutes, I choose to go to bed early instead of updating the blog.

We or more accurately Floyd, didn't take any Christmas Day pictures of the kids opening their gifts from Snata. He only took video. So I won't bore you with any long video clips. Here are a few pictures that I took of the kids a couple of days before Christmas.

Here are some of the gifts that the kids received from Snata, family members and friends, that are their favorite and mine.

Nate sitting in his Fisher-Price Bounce N Spin Froggy. I like this toy because of the toys, its bright colors, and the music that plays when the frogs eyes are spun. This teaches cause and affect and Hand Eye coordination. The only thing that I dislike about this toy is that it doesn't have any lights. A better choice would have been Fisher-Price Step and Play. It has lights, music and lots of interactive toys. Unfortunately we didn't find this until just before Christmas.

Sensory Symphony by Sassy. This is Timmy's favorite toy. Each fish has a different texture. There is a volume control switch. And there is 3 modes of play; continuous music, make your won song (each individual fish has it's own musical note), and finish the tune. 

LOL Roll Over Rover - This dog is hilarious! The dog actually rolls over and laughs. This is Timmy's toy, but it is Nate's favorite. I believe it is because of the color contrast (black and white). Nate loves to watch the dog roll over and laugh. He just gets hysterical when we lay him on the floor with the dog. The dog has a motion sensor to restart the dogs antics once they stop. This toy helps promote cause and effect.

Chatimal - I say what you say - Unfortunately this toy wasn't exactly what I was hoping. But it is very cute. This is Timmy's toy. The Chatimal repeats every word or sound that it hears. The down side is that the repeated words are sped up and the sound quality isn't that great. So I'm on the hunt for a toy that does something similar, but of better quality

Melissa And Doug Shape Sorter - I really like this. The pieces are small enough for Timmy to be able to grasp easily. And the fact that the shapes are to be placed on a peg rather than Timmy having to search a container for the proper matching shape hole, is a plus. The bright colors are a plus as well.

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Basketball - Bright colors, volume control, music, lights, cause and effect and it helps to teach numbers/counting

1-5.

V-Tech Baby's Learning Laptop - Bright colors, music, lights, volume control, raised buttons and cause and effect. This toy also helps to teach animal sounds, object names andcounting.

Bumbo Seat with Play tray - We bought this from Target. The play tray was sold seperately and is a must for playtime in the chair. This chair promotes great sitting posture.

This is Emily's favorite gift. Why did we buy a cell phone for a 5 year old you may be asking. Well, its intended use isn't for talking, but rather for playing games. After looking at the prices for PSP's and each game that would be needed to go with the PSP, we decided that giving Emily a cell phone in which to play games would be a better choice. 1. This phone was FREE. When we recently upgraded our phones, we added 2 new Smart phones. This allowed us to be eligable to choose a FREE phone.  2. Emily LOVES playing games on Floyd's phone. The games that she chooses to play are FREE or only cost $0.99 each. Compare the price of these games to those of a PSP, we come out way ahead in savings. Besides, with a PSP there are accessories that she would want and we would have to find someway to store each game cartridge when travelling. With the cell phone we only have the phone to find a safe place to store when it isn't in use.

This MP3 player is Zach's favorite. Zach LOVES music and singing. He uses MP3Rocket to download free music to his player. The kid has to charge the internal batter at least once a day. Twice if he uses the player instead of his stereo on weekends. Thank goodness the player comes with a rechargable battery. Or else we would be broke from having to replace batteries!

We bought this gift for Timmy so that he can feel more involved with his meal preparations. All of Timmy's meals are made from scratch and pureed. We use no butter, oils or salt when preparing his meals. But we do use ALOT of herbs. So we felt that Timmy would gain a lot from helping to grow and use his own herbs to put into his meals. No sight is necessary for this activity. And it will help promote the use of his hands and the sense of smell.